Wire-stretching tool



(No Model.)

' J. L. HILTON.

WIRE STRETCHING TOOL.

No. 598,931. Patented Feb. 15, 1898'.

(761070 Hilton,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. HILTON, OF ELKTON, KENTUCKY. Q

WlRE-STRETCHING TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,931, dated February 1 5, 1898.

Application filed July 191 1897. Serial No. 645,198. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN L. HILTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elkton, in the county of Todd and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Wire-Stretching Machine, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in Wire-stretchers.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of wire-stretchers and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device adapted to be readily applied to a fence-wire and capable of expediting the operation of stretching and of enabling a wire to be stretched to the desired tension with perfect ease to the operator.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a wire-stretcher constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view.

Like numerals of reference designate cor.- responding parts in both figures of the drawings.

1 designates a lever having one portion shaped to form a handle 2 and having its other end or portion 3 fiat and provided with a longitudinal slot 4, extending inward from the end of the lever and adapted to receive the wire to be stretched. The lever is fulcrumed on a fence-post in stretching a fencewire and may be four or five feet long or any other desired length, so that the wire may be easily stretched to the desired tension at the expenditure of only a slight exertion on the part of the operator.

The wire, which passes through the slot 4, is engaged by a clamp comprising a plate or block 5 and a pivoted dog 6 mounted thereon. The block or plate -5, which is mounted on the lever by any suitable means, is provided with a slot 7, registering with the slot 4 of the lever and extending inward from its outer face to within a short distance of its inner face.

One wall 8 of the slot 7 is corrugated or otherwise roughened in order to obtain'a firm hold on a fence-wire, and the opposite side of the plate or block is provided with a recess 9, in which the dog 6 is secured by a longitudin-a1 pivot 9. The dog, which is provided witha curved engaging edge 10 to form a cam, is corrugated at that point similar to the wall 8 of the slot 6-, and the greater the strain exerted on a fence-wire the more securely is it clamped between the dog and the plate or block. The dog is provided with an extension or handle which enables it to be readily manipulated. 1

The invention has the following advantages: The wire-stretcher is easily and quickly ad- 3' usted to a wire. The latter may be stretched with great ease by the operator, and the device will enable him to accomplish the maximum quantity of work in a given length of time.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A wire-stretcher comprising a lever provided at one end with alongitudinal slot, a plate or block mounted on the lever adjacent to the slot and having a corresponding slot or opening registering with that of the lever, and a dog mounted on the plate or block at one side thereof and arranged to clamp a wire between it and the plate or block, substantially as described.

2. A wire-stretcher comprising a lever provided at one end with a longitudinal slot, a plate or block mounted on the lever adjacent to the slot and provided with a slot or opening registering with that of the lever, one Wall of the slot or opening of the block or plate being recessed and the other wall being roughened, and a dog pivoted in the recess of the plate or block and disposed opposite the roughened face of the same, substantially as described.

June 18, 1897.

J L. HILTON.

Witnesses:

J. D. STANDARD, 0. R. OLEMENTs. 

